It should have been a landmark night for football, with Evanston and New Trier, rivals for more than a century, facing off before a crowd of about 25,000 people at Northwestern’s new Ryan Field.
Instead, members of the Evanston Township High School marching band say the evening was marred by racist and homophobic slurs and taunts hurled at them by New Trier Township High School students.
The ETHS students said they were booed and yelled at before and after the game, with some told to “go back to Africa,” and “kill yourself.” Adri Lieberman, 17, a color guard captain, said she comforted two of her friends after they were spat on by New Trier students.
“When I got back to the band room, I just see them both walk in, sobbing, and my first instinct was to hug them and just hold them,” Lieberman said. “It just really tore at me, and it made me really upset.”
Kaleem Alam, 16, said they felt “degraded” when they heard students yelling racial slurs, including the n-word.
“Behind that word, it’s like centuries of slavery happening,” Alam said.
The New Trier crowd, they added, was mostly made up of white students. At New Trier’s Winnetka campus, which serves grades 10 through 12, about 73% of students are white, according to 2025 data from the Illinois Report Card, compared to ETHS, where 44% of students in grades 9 through 12 are white.
Ifeoluwa Dada, 16, said she and her friends were stunned by the online response they saw after details of what happened became public. She said some commenters told ETHS students to “get thicker skin” and that they “probably deserved it.”
The Chicago Sun-Times reviewed screenshots shared by Dada showing those comments. The Sun-Times also found several social media commenters questioning students’ version of events, demanding audio or video proof and characterizing the behavior as “normal.”
Many comments on TikTok and Instagram reels posted by news outlets also invoked the long-standing rivalry between the two schools. Some commenters who identified themselves as alumni said similar incidents had occurred between the rival schools for decades.
Evanston Township High School marching band members Ifeoluwa Dada (from left), 16, a junior,Adri Lieberman, 17, a senior; and Kaleem Alam, 16, a junior, said members of the band were subjected to racial and homophobic slurs at Friday night’s football game against New Trier at the new Ryan Field. They discussed what happened after a concert Monday at the high school.
Octavio Jones/For the Sun-Times
Dada said New Trier cheerleaders intentionally bumped into Evanston band members during tailgating before the game.
Evanston students want meaningful consequences for New Trier, she said.
“I just want them to know, if they do this, then there has to be something done, and that something is either suspension or getting banned from Ryan Field,” Dada said.
Administrators from both districts have announced they’re investigating the incident. They released a joint statement Sunday.
“Friday evening should have been an opportunity to celebrate our students, spirited competition and the long-standing traditions of our two school communities,” the statement said. “For the ETHS Marching Band, it was an especially meaningful opportunity to do what they love: share their talents and proudly represent their school. No student should leave an event where they came to perform, compete, or support their peers feeling that their dignity or belonging were demeaned.”
In an email to the Sun-Times, New Trier’s chief communications officer Niki Dizon said the investigation was ongoing and that the school had no more updates to share. She reiterated that the school does not tolerate racism, homophobia or other forms of discrimination at school or school events, and it would take appropriate action as the investigation progresses.
Craig Anderson, Illinois High School Association executive director, also has issued a statement, saying, in part: “It is sad and unfortunate that such a historic night celebrating the power of community and high school sports was marred by the despicable actions of a few.”
Anderson said both schools are working together to identify those involved, including to verify if they are current high school students and if they attend either school.
At Monday’s New Trier school board meeting, board President Sally Tomlinson said any behavior contradicting the district’s values of inclusion and belonging must be “unequivocally condemned and addressed.” She said the district had a responsibility to strengthen inclusive and supportive spaces even if the students involved in the alleged behavior are not identified.
Lieberman used to live in Wilmette, and noted she would have attended New Trier had she not moved to Evanston before starting high school.
“It’s an event like this that makes me really proud to be an Evanston [student] and not a New Trier student,” she said, “because I think about this, and I’m just like, ‘This is really disgusting and really horrible.”
Evanston Township High School marching band members said they were subjected to racial and homophobic slurs at a Friday night game against New Trier at Ryan Field. About 25,000 fans attended the game, won by New Trier, 42-28.
Octavio Jones/For the Sun-Times
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